The former Scotland international has impressed while on trial with the club since leaving Motherwell and joins a side in good form in the Ladbrokes Championship with three wins in their four games so far.

Queens currently sit second in the table and have added McFadden - who scored 15 goals for Scotland including a famous winner in Paris - to their squad as they prepare to take on Livingston on Saturday.

Manager Gary Naysmith said: “I’m delighted to have James join us, his experience will be invaluable especially for the younger players, but he has come to challenge for a place in the team and at 34 years old we feel he still has a lot to offer”.

Dundee United lost their 100 per cent start to the campaign with a 3-0 defeat to St Mirren before the international break, and manager Ray McKinnon has called for an improved performance.

“Dumbarton proved last season they are a team full of experienced players who have been around these leagues and played at all sorts of levels,” he told Arabzone.

“It will be a very tough game but we have had two good weeks of training and I’m hoping the guys are ready for the game.

“We did a lot of conditioning over the last two weeks. We need to build on the technical side and the sharpness because it has been an intense 10 days.

“I’m hoping their fitness has improved and the sharpness so hopefully that can lead to an improved performance.”

After beating the Tangerines last time out, St Mirren host Inverness while Brechin and Falkirk face off in a bottom-of-the-table clash at Glebe Park with both sides looking for a first win of the campaign.

Allan Johnston’s league leaders Dunfermline travel to face Morton, and the manager stressed the importance of the next few matches.

He told the club website: “It is an important month for us. There are a lot of hard games playing against the top teams, we have to raise our level again but the players are capable of that.